Monty's 1989 Crown Victoria LX

[monterey1962]

I fucked up by taping out too far to the inside the first time. This left a paint line showing to the insides of the tail corner assemblies. Still doesn't look great since you can tell is was done with a rattle can, but it's shiny and out of sight with the trunk closed.

Got my Eastwood spray can supplies today. Note to self: Wear a freakin' breather mask! Damn, I'm tired from work and thought "It'll just be a few shots." Wrong. Head ... ache .... However, the spray cans allowed me to cover the area above the frame and to get into the corners. Had to drop my tail pipes again, but it worked good. Tomorrow I should be able to finish off with the ECB, then the car can go back on the ground. That is, unless I find something else that needs to be done this year.

A lot of things being put off with this car, but there's just no time. Need the car "done" enough to run it for some trips this fall.

[monterey1962]

Finished off the 1/4's and floor pans tonight. Tomorrow I should be able to start reassembly of the ass end. Messed with the new tail pipe a bit. It doesn't completely match the left pipe (they never do), and I'm trying to get past the unevenness of the two. Looks good from behind the car, but I know it doesn't line up the same underneath. Guess I should just deal with it and move on.

That is, unless I find something else that needs to be done this year.

Oops. Spoke too soon. This spring I bought everything to do a complete intake/timing cover/water pump job for the CV. I had been putting it off since I just didn't have time (or maybe I just don't want to do it). Unfortunately, the water pump is leaking out of the weep hole. It's bad enough to leave a trail down the front of the engine and form a drip off of the corner of the oil pan. The rear lower intake gasket is leaking oil. Since I have the car up on the stands, it only makes sense to tackle it now. I don't want to get stranded 200 miles from home this Fall just because I was in a hurry to get the car on the road. 146K-ish mile engine. It's not pretty. I have a feeling this car will challenge me on the water pump bolts.

[monterey1962]

Ass end is assembled. Applied seam sealer to the nuts for the tail corners and tail light assemblies. A lot of room in there for water to sneak through. Need to have it sealed up good. Found 3157 bulbs in the reverse sockets, so I installed the proper 3156's. Nice to have this rear end mess out of the way.

I'm going to assume that I'm trying to avoid the engine work, because I decided to put my extra 1" rear sway bar to use. Tonight was just a test fit.

Before I get into this, be aware that I will be comparing two separate cars with different LCA styles. I should have more pics and info on this tomorrow. Years back, I installed a 1" RSB on my '88 GM. It had all four mounting holes in the LCA's. I don't remember what the LCA lips looked like, but I will check tomorrow. My '89 CV has the LCA's with only one hole in each side and a rolled up lip. The bar fits with NO MODIFICATION to the lips.

**See attached pics.**

Passenger side. Fits perfect. Cleared shock and rear axle housing just as it should. 3/4" clearance at the axle housing.

Driver's side. The hole in the RSB is about 1/16" too high compared to the LCA hole. However, I was able to thread the bolt all the way though the RSB hole. Clearance around the shock is good. However, clearance at the axle housing is about 1/4". I'm going to pull the RSB and measure its top-to-bottom thickness in the area of the bolt holes. If I am correct in that the bar's thickness is a fraction off from the passenger side, I will grind the bottom of the RSB (where it meets the LCA lip on the driver's side) and refit. I'm thinking that by grinding an even amount off the bottom of the RSB's driver's side, it will increase the distance between the RSB and the axle housing on the driver's side.

Clearance at the differential is good.

Will post more info when I get it.

Edit: So someone doesn't get stupid and misunderstand the information. This was a test fit of the RSB to show that no modifications are necessary to the LCA lip. A second hole in each LCA must be drilled to properly mount the RSB.

[monterey1962]

I've decided to put the car off until next year, unless I get extra time. It's getting too late in the year to keep at this car when I have a lot of other things that need to be done. The CV will end up in storage all winter again, anyway. Not to mention that I haven't even put 1K miles on it this year.

I did get pics of the LCA's of my '88 GM with the four holes for the RSB. Pics below.

[1990LTD]

It's fine with just one bolt per LCA? Interesting, I'm afraid I'll screw up drilling the second hole and junkify my control arms

[monterey1962]

No, it is not fine with one bolt per side. I did not mount the RSB because I was only doing a test fit. Read the text in the pictures. I will be drilling the extra holes when I finally get around to permanently mounting the bar. Prior post was edited to make things a little clearer.

[1990LTD]

My bad, sorry.

[Lincolnmania]

lookin good mang!

[monterey1962]

My bad, sorry.

No worries. I'm stressed out from work and other BS, so I've been a little on edge lately.

Hopefully, in a couple of weeks I will have access to a Box Panther with a civilian RSB. If I am able to get pics, I'll post them for reference.

[marquisman]

i have never seen LCAs with only 2 holes. even my lincoln has 4holes per side. interesting.

[mrltd]

It's pretty common I've had a few.

[monterey1962]

With the '90 done for, I decided to winterize the CV. Tossed the snow tires on with some wire hubcaps. Surprisingly, he looks pretty good. I was disappointed to see that my vinyl top really went to hell over the summer. May try to seal up some of the cracks. Just pushes me to do a new top next year.

S.U. gets to wear the 14" all-seasons this year. And a bed load of summer tires to end the day.

[87gtVIC]

The 90 looks really nice with the wires. The 14's on SU just look comical.

[Brown_Muscle]

the center caps on SU are crazy, what are they off of?

[monterey1962]

The 14's on SU just look comical.

I take that as an insult. She wears them quite nicely. However, traction kind of sucks compared to the 245's I took off. :p

the center caps on SU are crazy, what are they off of?

They are a dog dish style Mercury cap. I believe they are from mid-70's Mercury's. I can't remember which model, right off hand.